Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today reduced duties on a host of consumer goods ranging from microwave ovens, mobile phones, watches, readymade garments, toy balloons, long pepper and replaceable household water filters in his Budget presentation for 2010-11.
Presenting the Budget proposals in Parliament, the Finance Minister also enhanced the value limit on duty-free import of commercial samples as personal baggage, stated UNI.
Basic customs duty on one of the key components in production of microwave ovens was reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
Outright exemption from special additional duty was provided to goods imported in a pre-packaged form for retail sale. This would also cover mobile phones, watches and readymade garments even when they are not imported in pre-packaged form. The refund-based exemption is also being retained for cases not covered by the new dispensation. Toy balloons have been totally exempted from central excise duty.
Basic customs duty on long pepper have been more than halved from 70 per cent to 30 per cent. Central excise duty on replaceable kits for household water filters, other than those based on RO technology, has been reduced to 4 per cent. There has also been reduction in central excise duty on corrugated boxes and cartons from 8 per cent to 4 per cent and on goods covered under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations Act from 16 per cent to 10 per cent.
Central excise on latex rubber thread has been halved from 8 per cent to 4 per cent and fully exempted from import duty on specified inputs or raw materials required for the manufacture of sports goods expanded to cover a few more items. Value limit of Rs 100,000 per annum on duty-free import of commercial samples as personal baggage enhanced to Rs 3 lakh per annum.